Shadowhunters – This Guilty Blood Recap/Review

Our Rating

Episode score9
9

Welcome Shadowhunters to our full recap of This Guilty Blood.

It’s back, finally, the long wait is over and Shadowhunters has returned to Freeform.

The season 2 premiere picks up almost straight after the finale of season 1. Jace is on the ship where we last saw him with Valentine, there are bodies everywhere. Suddenly Clary appears and then so does Valentine. Jace goes into fight mode to protect Clary, he and Valentine duel with their sexy new seraph blades but it doesn’t last long. Jace stabs Valentine and kills him. Clary and Jace run down into the bowels of the ship where Valentine reappears. They fight and Jace kills him again, this time pitching them both over a railing to the floor far below. Jace hauls his blade out of Valentine and…breaks the glamour. It wasn’t really Valentine at all, but one of his new Circle of Shadowhunters. Another glamour is removed – Clary was actually Valentine – this was all a test of Jace’s loyalty and Valentine isn’t pleased. He orders Jace to be strung up after drugging him with Raziel knows what.

I said it in my spoiler free review but the new, longer intro is gorgeous.

At the Institute anyone who guessed from this pic that Magnus was going to try and track Jace using his grey hoodie – you get a cookie. We get a look at some of the new gizmos for season two, like the very cool Minority Report-style table thingy that Izzy uses to call up 3D maps of the city. Alec is not handling Jace’s absence well. He barks orders at Lydia and the rest of the nephilim until Lydia pulls rank and tells him to get lost. Magnus tries to talk to him but he snaps at him and pulls away. Yeah, sorry to all you Malec fans who were hoping for soft and squishy right off the bat, I think with Jace’s absence things are going to be much harder for this new couple.

Clary and Jocelyn are reunited. Clary gives her mother the JC box and tells her that Jace is still alive. It’s not the happiest of family reunions. There’s clearly more that Jocelyn is hiding from Clary, even now. Honestly Jocelyn, get over it. Haven’t you read Harry Potter? The only thing that happens when you try and protect kids with some kind of magical abilities from their true nature is they end up massively in danger!!!

Magnus finds Alec on a balcony looking out over the city. Alec is a mess, he wants Magnus to use his magic to soothe his pain while he tracks Jace through their parabatai rune. Magnus tries to dissuade him after what happened the last time Alec tried that which only pisses Alec off more. He storms off, leaving Magnus alone and I dare say a little hurt and confused.

Back in the greenhouse with Clary and Jocelyn, Simon and Luke arrive. Jocelyn gets a crash course in some of what she’s missed, namely Simon being a vampire now, before they are called to the main operations room. We get introduced to newcomer Victor Aldertree, played by Nick Sagar. *boo-hiss*

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Aldertree informs the Shadowhunters that they will be searching for Jace, but the Institute is on lockdown. Izzy tells Clary not to worry, that Valentine will never break Jace but it seems like he is trying his best. After messing with his head using the glamours Valentine is now having his goons beat a shackled Jace and it is not pretty. Seriously, all credit to Dom Sherwood cos that looked painfully real. Then, after all the torture, Valentine heals Jace and tells him he wants a chat. Seriously? You basically kidnap him, mentally and physically torture him and then “whoops, let’s have a father-son chat”. Screw you Valentine (love you Alan you scary bastard).

Aldertree and Clary have their own little chat. Aldertree, weasel that he is, twists Clary’s words and makes Jace out to be a traitor who was working with Valentine all along. I hate this guy. He’s been on screen for all of about 3 minutes and I want to punch him. Can we put him and Valentine on the ship and then hole it below the waterline please? Obviously save Jace first though. Speaking of Valentine and the ship, he’s busy making spaghetti for Jace, reminding him of childhood memories to try and sway him permanently to his side. Jace isn’t buying it until Valentine activates his Mnemosyne rune and shows Jace a memory – Valentine injecting Jocelyn with pure demon blood while she was pregnant. Jace is horrified, wants to know why, Valentine said it was to turn him into the ultimate weapon.

Magnus is leaving the Institute, heading home for steaks and vodka, when Alec stops him. They argue but are interrupted by red flashing lights and a siren – Aldertree has declared Jace a traitor and wanted Dead or Alive. He also manages to put Alec and Clary’s tentative alliance from the end of S1 to an end by announcing that it was Clary who told him Jace was a traitor. Yeah, cheers for that Aldertree you ass. Just to pile insult on top of injury, he then bans all Downworlders (yep, including Simon and Luke) from the Institute and forbids Alec, Clary and Izzy from looking for Jace. Alec and Izzy of course challenge the decision which prompts Aldertree to threaten to de-rune them if they try.

Simon has gone with Luke to the Jade Wolf and after a brief pep talk from Luke re: Simon’s feelings for Clary, Simon gets into a little argument with some of the wolves.

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They aren’t thrilled with having a vampire on the property, even if it’s what their Alpha has said. Simon tries and fails to encanto them into letting him stay before they lock him in the boat shed outside. Randomly, this is actually pretty cool cos we get to see new territory outside the Jade Wolf.

Back on Valentine’s ship he is still trying to convince Jace that what he is doing is right. He says that the Clave is weak and unprepared. That Downworlders will give in to the impulses from their demon blood. Jace asks if demon blood is so dangerous why would Valentine inject him with it. Valentine says it’s so they could fight fire with fire. He’s absolutely crazy, but totally committed to this insane cause of his. Jace needs to get away from him soon.

In the Institute, Izzy and Clary have a little sparring session during which Izzy tells Clary about Aldertree’s threats. I absolutely love this scene, badass girls training together, great music. The look in Clary’s eye when Izzy tells her “To know your enemy you must become your enemy.” – you know the girl’s got a plan.

Outside Maryse catches up to Alec and they argue over Jace. Maryse is worried about her reputation and what people will think about her having adopted Valentine’s son. She doesn’t stop to think about what this is doing to her family, to the children who were raised alongside him and call him brother. Not only that but she seems fine with the Clave killing Jace, despite what that will do to his parabatai – her son! Unsurprisingly Alec stalks off and leaves his mother behind.

Aldertree shows up at the Jade Wolf – except it’s not Aldertree, it’s Clary using a glamour. Seems she really took that “become your enemy” bit of Izzy’s advice to heart. She asks for Luke’s help as a cop to track Jace down as her Shadowhunter tracking isn’t helping. He agrees and sends her to see Simon while he calls Jocelyn to tell her Clary is there. Jocelyn shows up and asks Clary for her phone and stele to show her something…then locks her and Simon in the boatshed and goes to track Jace herself. These Fairchild women are scarily alike. Also, I really don’t think she wants to track Jace down and give him a hug.

Alec arrives at Magnus’s penthouse to find the Warlock shirtless, cat eyes in full effect, doing magical tai-chi. Magnus’s new magic effects are amazing, more sparking, spitting electricity than the old blue fog, but all of that pales in comparison to the intensity between Magnus and Alec in this scene.

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When Alec smiles and blushes as Magnus fixes his collar I swear there were bluebirds flying and a host of woodland creatures hopping about.

Clary and Simon bond while trapped in the boat shed. Simon is seconds away from admitting his feelings when the door (which he’s been trying to break down) collapses and they go after Jocelyn.

Magnus helps Alec to track his parabatai using his magic and their rune. Jocelyn tracks Jace from the glove Clary had and the Clave close in just as Jace and Valentine portal on to land. Side note – the new portal effects are A+! Valentine has brought Jace here for another lesson. There’s a vamp den in an old pizzeria. The head vamp there was married to the guy who ran the place, until she killed him. Valentine tells Jace that love won’t stop him from hurting people. Jace hears a scream from inside the vamp den and flies into action. This final sequence is a thing of wonder. Dom Sherwood’s training shows through because he is this beautiful, lethal thing as he tears through the vamps.

Jace and Maria, the head vampire fight until they end up back on the street. She submits, thinking Jace won’t kill her but Valentine eggs him on until he does – just as Jocelyn, Clary and Simon arrive. Jocelyn definitely doesn’t want to hug either her son or her ex-husband, she pulls out a crossbow and shoots. Valentine takes the arrow for Jace. Put in an impossible position, Jace grabs Valentine and helps him back through the portal while Clary confronts her mother.

This Guilty Blood was an absolutely blistering episode and a hell of a way to kick off the new season. Even after repeat viewings I noticed more, was drawn deeper into the storyline and more convinced by the performances. Dominic Sherwood and Matthew Daddario stood out for me as having improved greatly since season 1. Their physical and mental anguish at being separated is totally believable. That’s not to say the rest of the cast are slacking by any means, but the main focus of the episode is on the sundered parabatai pair and thus they are more noticeable.

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About author(s)

Clare Hemsworth

Hey, I'm Clare, aka Ciara or C. My current fandoms are RWBY and The Last Kingdom along with a bunch of other stuff I tend to let build up and then binge! I'm a keen, albeit amateur, cosplayer and love attending cons in various cosplays. I'm also the resident comic book girl around these parts, especially small press comics, so if you've got an indie book you want reviewed, I'm your gal! When I'm not doing the fangirl thing I am a keen long-distance hiker, having completed Te Araroa in New Zealand and The Pacific Crest Trail on the West Coast of the US.